Business Bits: High gas prices good news for BJ's Wholesale, MassINC finds economic anxiety, Massachusetts rated one of worst states for business

BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. (NYSE: BJ) said April sales increased 12 percent from the same month a year earlier.

The Natick-based retailer reported that April sales were $871.7 million, compared with $777 million in April 2010.

BJ's said sales of gasoline, which has risen sharply in price, and a calendar shift in the timing of Easter both helped sales.

The company confirmed in February that BJ's is considering a possible sale, as well as other "strategic alternatives." In January, the company announced that it planned to close five under-performing stores and lay off 61 employees at its headquarters and 53 people in "field-level" jobs.
First Wind forms firm to operate NE wind farms

First Wind Holdings Inc. said it has reached an agreement with two other companies to jointly develop and operate new wind projects in the Northeast, through the formation of a new operating company.

The Boston-based company said the new company, Northeast Wind, will also manage First Wind's current 370-megawatt portfolio of wind energy projects in the Northeast. First Wind will own 51 percent of Northeast Wind, while the other partners, Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp., will own the remaining 49 percent.

"First Wind will work with Algonquin and Emera to grow the operating company," the companies said in a statement.

First Wind operates several large wind farms in Maine and is also developing a 40-megawatt wind farm in Sheffield, Vt., and a 60-megawatt project in Penobscot County, Maine. They pulled out of a proposed project in Brimfield

Indian leader: Tribe could skirt gambling law
The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe plans to move ahead with a Massachusetts gambling operation, State House News Service reported - even if state legislators don't act to expand gambling in the Bay State.

The chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoags, Cedric Cromwell, said the tribe already has legal authority to operate video lottery terminals like the ones in use at Twin River in Rhode Island, State House News reported. According to the report, Cromwell told the news service he hopes to avoid taking that step by negotiating an agreement with Governor Deval Patrick.
Broadcast veteran Sahl joins public relations firm

RD Sahl, a veteran broadcast journalist who most recently spent the last 13 years at New England Cable News, has joined communications and public affairs firm Denterlein, as a senior adviser. Sahl, who left NECN earlier this year, will provide Denterlein's clients with "strategic counsel, media training and message development support," according to the Boston-based firm.

In January, Sahl also joined the journalism department at Boston University as a faculty member.

"As a reporter and anchor, I had the opportunity to interview business leaders and elected officials of all stripes. Some did a great job of conveying their message, responding to bad news or setting themselves apart from the pack. Others were far less effective," said Sahl, in a press release. "I'm excited by the opportunity to work with the Denterlein team to help their current and future clients be among those who do a great job of communicating in both the new and traditional media."

During his time as a broadcast journalist in Boston, Sahl also worked at WHDH-TV in Boston, which he joined in 1983.

"There are few journalists today who have RD's depth of experience - from foreign reporting and US politics to regional business issues and local breaking news," said Geri Denterlein, president of Denterlein, in a press release. "Our clients will benefit from his insight into news, business and politics from his deep history with traditional news gathering and from his understanding of how new media have transformed communications."
MassINC: Economic anxieties persist in state

Despite strong statewide economic growth in the first quarter, Massachusetts residents are still anxious about their economic prospects and confidence in the recovery has slipped, according to a new statewide poll released last week by The MassINC Polling Group (MPG).

The quarterly Index of Consumer Sentiment fell from 73.3 to 68.0, partly on declining expectations about the near term business environment. Just 35 percent are optimistic for business in the year ahead, verses January when residents were split 43/43. This decline mirrored national trends where the ICS fell from 77.5 in February to 67.5 in March, one of the largest monthly declines on record.

"This disconnect shows us that, while the state is seeing economic growth, consumers still see trouble ahead," said Steve Koczela, president of The MassINC Polling Group, in a release.
State named among worst to do business

Massachusetts remained close to the bottom of the list on a ranking of CEOs' best states to do business, moving up one spot on the 2011 survey to No. 45.

The survey, taken by Chief Executive magazine, asked 500 CEOs to rate the states based on criteria including taxation and regulation, workforce quality and living environment.

Still, the survey put Massachusetts ahead of states often considered competitors for business, including New York (No. 49) and California (No. 50).

Texas ranked at No. 1 and North Carolina at No. 2. The only New England state to make the top 20 on the list was New Hampshire, at No. 18. Massachusetts scored four out of a possible five on workforce quality, and three on quality of life, but got just two stars for taxation.